Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1887-02-21

1
fields, and made our first call on the
Thibodeaux. They had been expect
ing US, and Andonia came down TO the
landing to welcome Us, and with a for
nal, pretty courtesy led the way to the
house. Does the reader happen to re-
member, say in New England. say fifty
years ago, the sweetest maiden lady in
the village, prim, staid, full of kind
ness, the proportions of the figure
never suite developed, with a row of
small corkscrew curls about her serene
forehead, and all the juices of life that
might have overiiowed into the life of
others somehow withered into the
sweetness of her wistful face? Yes; a
little timid and appealing, and yet
trustful, and in a scant, quaint gown
Well, Andonia was never married, and
she had such curls, and high-waisted
gown, and kerchief folded across her
breast. And when she spoke, it was
in the language of France as it is rem
dered in Acadia.
The house, like all in this region,
stands upon blocks of wood, is in APP
between timbers are of concrete mixed
with moss, and the same inside as out.
1t had no glass in the windows, which
were closed with solid shutters. Upon
the rough walls were hung sacred pic
lures and other crudely colored prints.
The furniture was rude and apparently
homemade, and the whole interior
was as painfully neat as a Dutch par
lor. Even the beams overhead and
ceiling had been scrubbed. Andonia
showed US with blush of pride her
neat little sleeping-room, with its SOU
venirs of affection, and perhaps some
of the dried flowers of possible ro-
nance, and the ladies admired the fine
ly woven white Counterpart on the
bed. Adonia's married sister was
large, handsome woman, smiling and
prosperous. There were children and
/ think baby about, besides Mr..
Thibodeaux. Nothing could exceed
the kindly manner of these people.
Andonia showed us how they card,
weave, and spin the cotton out of
which their blankets and the jean for
their clothing are made. They use the
old-fashioned hand-cards, spin on a
little wheel with foot treadle, have
the most primitive warping bars, and
weave most laboriously on a rude loom.
But the cloth they make will wear for
ever, and the colors they use are all
fast. 1t is great pleasure, we might
almost say shock, to encounter such
honest work in these times. The Aca-
dams grow a yellow or nankeen sort of
cotton, which without requiring any
dye is woven into handsome yellow
stuff When we departed Andonia
slipped into the door-yard, and return
ed with rose for. each of us. / fan
cied she was loath to have us go, and
that the visit was an event in the mon
otony of her single life.
Embarking again on the placid
stream, we moved along through
land of peace. The houses of the Aca-
dians are scattered along the bayou at
considerable distances apart. The
voyager seems to be in an unoccupied
country, when suddenly the turn of the
stream shows him farmhouse, with
its little landing-wharf, boats, and per-
haps a schooner moored at the bank,
and behind it cultivated fields and
fringe of trees. In the blossoming
time of the year, when the birds are
most active, these scenes are idyllic.
The Acadians are fond of their
homes. 1t is not the fashion for the
young people to go away to better
their condition. Few young men have
ever been as far from home as New
Orleans. They marry young, and set
tie down near the homestead. Mr.. lie
Blanc has colony of his descendants
about him, within hail of his door.
1t must be large, and his race must be
prolific, judging by the number of
small children who gathered at the
homestead to have a sly peep at the
strangers, They took small interest in
the war, and it had few attractions for
them. The CONSUMPTION carried away
many of their young men, but l am
told they did not make very good sol
diers, not because they were not stall
wart and brave, but because they were
so intolerably homesick that they de-
serted whenever they had chance.
The men whom we saw were most of
them fine athletic fellows, with honest,
dark, sun-browned faces; some of the
children were very pretty, but the wo-
men usually showed the effects of isola-
ton and toll, and had the common
plainness of French peasants. They
are self-supporting community, raise
their own cotton, corn, and sugar, and